I am reading a short story by Michael Moorcock, written in 1990. In the story, the first-person narrator describes a hotel in Egypt, and he says:
It had the same romantic attraction, the same impossible promises. I found that, once within its tiny fly-thick lobby -- actually the communal hallway leading directly to the courtyard -- I was as lost to its appeal as any pop to his lid. I had discovered a temporary spiritual home.
I am puzzling over the phrase "any pop to his lid." I've never heard it before, and haven't been able to locate another use of it or a definition. Does anybody have an ideas?
Um--although I am puzzled as to why he said he was lost to its appeal rather than its appeal was lost to him, I think it means that although at first he thought the place was attractive, once he was actually inside, it was as likely that he would ever again think it was appealing as it was likely that carbonation would ever be restored to a can or bottle of beverage once its lid has been popped open.
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although I am puzzled as to why he said he was lost to its appeal rather than its appeal was lost to him
... because it means exactly the opposite? 
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although I am puzzled as to why he said he was lost to its appeal rather than its appeal was lost to him
... because it means exactly the opposite?
on the contrary.
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... it was as likely that he would ever again think it was appealing as it was likely that carbonation would ever be restored to a can or bottle of beverage once its lid has been popped open.
But, his lid?
I have no idea what this expression means...
According to the OED, a "lid" can be a hat or cap, and "pop" can mean an elderly man (from "poppa", father). That would fit the bill, wouldn't it?
well, I've heard "popped his lid", which means to lose his composure, but that doesn't seem to fit here...
his lid? The only sense I can make of it is that, just as the intense carbonation starts being irretrievably lost as soon as the can/bottle's lid is popped, so did the appeal of the place start being lost to him as soon as he entered it.
Okay, I'll try again...
If "I'm lost to its appeal", I like it.
If "it has lost its appeal", I don't like it.
"I'm lost in your eyes" doesn't mean "your eyes have lost me" or "I have lost your eyes", "in your eyes, I have lost", does it?
If you're still lost, explain why he would make a place he didn't like "a temporary spiritual home" -- some sort of self-loathing perhaps?
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Okay, I'll try again...
If "I'm lost to its appeal", I like it.
If "it has lost its appeal", I don't like it.
"I'm lost in your eyes" doesn't mean "your eyes have lost me" or "I have lost your eyes", "in your eyes, I have lost", does it?
If you're still lost, explain why he would make a place he didn't like "a temporary spiritual home" -- some sort of self-loathing perhaps?
The moment a poppyhead pops a pop (a hit) to his lid (his ounce of opium) he becomes oblivious to the appeal of his surroundings, but evenso he idenitifies with the place and culture that allows the use of drugs and so hangs around.
Either that, or its like etaoin said...a missprint for "pop a lid" (a hit of Mary Jane).
Um, this might be way to obvious, and then again I may just be off my rocker at the moment, but why not write the author and ask what he meant?
a "lid" can be a hat or cap, and "pop" can mean an elderly man While this is correct, there is no widespread cultural idea or even myth of a man, elderly or not, having particular attachment to his hat. Individuals, yes; society-wide, no. So I don't think this explanation fits, here.
explain why he would make a place he didn't like "a temporary spiritual home" At first reading, I assumed (nope, still haven't learned!) that the last sentence in the quote was referring back to his initial impression of the place. Upon reading the quote I put in blue, I am now wondering whether ALL of my first impression was wrong...
I found a Michael Moorcock message board, and I've posted the question there.
Here's hoping for an answer!
Well, now there is a debate on the Moorcock message board. The first suggestion was that I'd discovered a typo, and the phrase was taken from a German expression akin to "every pot has its lid", but we've now confirmed that the phrase as I recounted it appears in various publications of the short story, so it's looking more and more like it wasn't a typo, after all. Instead, the Moorcock board is now wondering if the phrase is a bit of rhyming slang of lid = kid, with pop (not rhyming, of course) = father. My own musing wondered whether there was a drug use reference, given the prevalence of "pop" and "lid" in illicit drug culture.
I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that MM himself will answer.
From the author his own self:
OK -- pop to his lid. It's sort of made-up slang -- popper and lid -- drug terms. It's not a mistake.
Now just how cool is that to get the answer from the author? The internet is a wonderous thing.
Sparteye, *very cool that you got the answer from the horse's mouth. But now that I know what each word means, I still don't get the meaning of the sentence. Not the what's-lost-to-whom (or vice-versa) bit previously discussed; rather, both the syntax and the sense of the analogy.
May I "Hypop-ethize" that:
The Popper is a mechanism used to remove the Lid, thus revealing the desired contents of the container.
The original phrase, "...appeal as any pop to his lid" would then indicate that this [hallway] was a suitable means to the desired effect; that is, a refuge.
If I am way off-base, tell me. (But be polite
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May I "Hypop-ethize" that:
The Popper is a mechanism used to remove the Lid, thus revealing the desired contents of the container.
The original phrase, "...appeal as any pop to his lid" would then indicate that this [hallway] was a suitable means to the desired effect; that is, a refuge.
If I am way off-base, tell me. (But be polite )
[polite]Well, it's your word against the author-his-own-sef's [/polite]
The way I originally read the passage (but wasn't sure I was understanding properly, but now know I was) was:
the ambiance of the hotel was such that it infused the narrator with a mystical, intoxicated attraction to it, in the same way a drug addict is lost to the seduction of his chosen intoxicant.
Yes! I get it now, Sparteye. I was interpreting "popper" to mean the drug itself (there is such, used on dance floors and elsewhere which propriety forbids me to mention), and not the user. Whew... thanks for the brain exercise.
thanks for the brain exercise. I always knew Sparteye would be good for something one of these days...
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I always knew Sparteye would be good for something one of these days...
And they say USns can't do irony.
Thanks!
